Welcome to the second in a new series of episodes in which we are talking to women making a difference in this time of Covid-19.
Today Ziada and Mary Ann talk with Esua Goldsmith author of a new memoir, The Space between Black and White about writing and publishing a book about her own life, why it was so important to her to share the story of being mixed race and how that has impacted her and the challenges of launching a book in the context of this pandemic.
Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith is a writer, feminist activist and development consultant of English – Ghanaian heritage. In 1975 she was the first woman of colour to be elected President of Leicester University Student’s Union, while in 2001 she became the first woman of colour to be elected Chair of the Fawcett Society. In 1977-9 Esua served as one of the first black volunteers to be sent on Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Tanzania. During her career she has acted as Commissioner for the Women’s National Commission, Chair and Co-Founder of the Gender and Development Network, Vice-Chair of ActionAid UK, a Trustee of the Equality and Diversity Forum and a member of the UK Government delegation to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. After reconnecting with her Ghanaian father and heritage in her 40s, she was enstooled as Queen Mother of Development of her village in Cape Coast, Ghana, in 2009.
You can find Esua via www.esuantsiwagoldsmith.com/ and purchase the book from Jacaranda Press: www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/collecti…nd-white (please buy directly from Jacaranda if you can as independent publishers like them need support especially during this pandemic).
This week we talk with Ernee Bee Neeplo from Formidable Initiatives in Liberia about her work with women and girls and particularly their work to address sexual violence and abuse.
Esther Otieno works as Senior Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Manage with IRC Tanzania. She is based in Kigoma in North-Western Tanzania. This week she tells Ziada and Mary Ann all about her mental health work in Refugee Camps and what motivates and challenges her about it.
In our first episode of The Change Making Women Book Club, Ziada and Mary Ann have been reading Mighty Be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian Peace Activist whose leadership helped bring an end to Liberia’s second civil war.
This week on the podcast we talk about the online conference Mary Ann has initiated ‘
This week Ziada and Mary Ann speak with Ilana Landsberg-Lewis about how she become so interested in talking with Grandmothers, building global solidarity between them and sharing their voices. Ilana also shares with us why she is passionate about a feminist, egalitarian and anti-colonial models of the solidarity work and the significant – and often undervalued – contribution that older women have made to the world of humanitarian assistance and development.
This week Mary Ann talks to Alessandra Pigni author of ‘The Idealist’s Survival Kit. 75 Simple Ways to Avoid Burnout’ about the causes of burnout in the Humanitarian Sector, why you aren’t alone if you are experiencing it and why a mixture of strategies are the best way to address it
This week we talk to Carrie Brownlee about financing international work for non-governmental organisations. We discuss the challenges of growth, sustainability and future planning, why fundraising and finance are part of the work and what she thinks needs to change in the sector in relation to resourcing.
This week Mary Ann talks to Hannah Thompson about mothering and humanitarian work, the challenges of travelling and risky contexts when you are a mum and how becoming mothers has affected our approach to our work in the international development sector.
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